Antique Safes/Diebold safe

QuestionQUESTION: I have just moved my parents from their house to an assisted living facility. I had to leave an old (circa 1950) Diebold safe behind. It is designated as "one hour safe" and certified as model#14493. The safe is currently locked , and my father , who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease , cannot remember the combination or if anything is in the safe. Could you recommend a safecracker in the area of Phoenix , Arizona? I have tried contacting locksmiths in the city , but they are only interested in drilling the safe thereby rendering it nonfunctional.

ANSWER: Sue,

First a number of problems with your assessments - First as the safe is "over" 50 years old, it does NOT meet any current standards for fire resistance, so it has little value in this area. Also as it is currently locked up, it actually has a negative value.

Second - I'm not sure where you came up with the idea that if the safe was "DRILLED", it would render it nonfunctional or useless. Drilling if done correctly by a trained safe technician will NOT ruin the safe, and in most cases will not damage the lock. The single small hole, can easily be repaired.
If you are assuming that every locksmith or safe technician should be able to manipulate the lock open - you have a couple of misconceptions or have been watching too many movies. While manipulation is possible, it is never a guaranteed method, and you may not have anyone in your area who is trained in this method of opening safes. If you do find someone who is trained, you may be paying for the "service", and NOT the end result. Drilling is a guaranteed method of opening the safe, AND if done correctly will NOT damage or ruin the safe. Obviously if you have a locksmith who is not trained, knowledgeable or does not have the correct equipment, they could easily damage or ruin the safe.

As far as companies in the Phoenix area, I have two companies that we use, and I'm not aware of them ever ruining a safe, intentionally.

Call them up, and discuss having your safe opened, what they plan, repairs, and costs. You should have a firm idea of what will happen to open AND repair your safe, AND how much the entire work will cost. Anyone that can't give you a firm price for their mobile service charge, labor and any possible parts (worst case scenario), should NOT be used.

Hope this helps,

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Actually, I have contacted Interstate Safe. The technician stated unequivocally that the safe would be damaged by drilling. (I do NOT watch television). I will contact Hicks. Thanks for the reply.

AnswerThanks Sue,

I don't normally recommend anyone that has an attitude up front that they will intentionally damage something. As stated though, opening the container by drilling - WHEN DONE CORRECTLY - will not damage the container, and it can be easily repaired. Locksmiths AND so called safe technicians who don't have a problem ruining a container should be avoided.

Expecting this type of service would be similar to taking your car in for an oil change and finding out the mechanic was going to ruin your engine to change the oil. I would never recommend that mechanic for the same reason that I would not recommend a locksmith who thinks the "easy way" is to destroy something and then sell you a new one.

I'll have to make some phone calls to Interstate and talk with Seth, I though his guys were better than this.

Hope you get better results with Hicks. I do have a couple more options, however they are much farther away, and you indicated you wanted someone in the Phoenix area.

Expertise

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